UNIT 2, PART E

I thought I taught Ann well and was able to keep it simple for her but it was hard to explain things to someone else and much harder than just learning it for yourself. Ann said I am a ‘shy and pleasant boy’ so maybe next time or if I did it again or could change anything then I would try not to be so shy. I think the lesson plan and what I taught Ann was just right as she didn’t want to go to into things but wanted to do more than just snap a photograph and she didn’t want to always use flash because all her photos were too bright or too dark if she didn't use flash. I don’t think I would do anything differently if I did it again except try really hard to not be so shy.

This is the review of my lessons I did a few weeks ago for a lady who is a family friend.

Still working on my award.

I am still working on my award and just doing the little finishing bits like waiting for a review on my lessons off the lady but she has been poorly so I should have it this weekend. Im also collecting comments in my book of my work.

UNIT 2, PART C Incl UNIT 2 PART D.

In the last couple of weeks I have had a photo book printed and am showing lots of people and getting comments and feedback on my work. Also I went to see the photographer that I interviewed and she had done a review of my work for me. 

For the last three weeks I have done lessons to teach a family friend about taking photographs, when she takes them she always uses flash and sometimes chops off people’s heads or they are too far away.

I enjoyed helping Ann and teaching her but it is much easier to learn it myself for my own photos. Ann is going to do a review of my lessons and I am picking it up on the weekend.

Also my mam has saved copies of two comments left about my work by the pro photographer I interviewed so I have uploaded then under this paragraph.


I came up with the ideas for the lessons and for the photographs by chatting to Ann about what she wanted to be able to do by the end of my lessons. If id kept on teaching her I would have stayed doing similar things but maybe gone out more to take photographs and taken different grandchildren she has. I helped Ann understand by keeping things i explained and taught her simple because she is not very technical and takes time to pick up new things. My mam supported me through it and gave me advice because she is a photographer herself. I think I taught her all I could about the camera settings and think if she had wanted more information or technical stuff id have had to ask my mam to teach her them things. Through all the lessons I made sure Ann understood everything by asking her to explain things back to me, once I needed to repeat things because I had gone a bit too fast and she didn’t catch it all the first time.

UNIT 2, PART D

To arrange the lessons I usually text her and sorted a time that she was free and my mam was too to take me to her house. We agreed that the lessons should be on Sunday afternoons for an hour or so but one of the days had to be changed to a Wednesday because of bad weather. When Ann found out her granddaughter could not come she text me and me and my mam asked my dad if he could come along so one day my dad modelled but the next time my mam did and my dad kept an eye on me, we picked my mam n dad because Ann is a family friend so knows them both.


THE LESSONS.


Week one.

I taught Ann about the settings in the camera and how they can affect light and that you don’t always need to use flash to take a photo. I also got Ann to try out the different settings using an ornament a bit like when I learnt and used a doll. I also chatted to her about my favourite photographer and his style of photography and also about other photographers and how their work might be different. 

Week Two.

This week we were going to take a photograph of one of her grandchildren in her garden but they couldn’t come so instead I got my dad involved with the dog and he was the model. She tried out all the different settings to get a photo that was good lighting and did not chop off a head or have too much other stuff in the photo to distract you. We looked through her photos then to see if there was anything different she could have done to improve the photograph.

Week Three.

This week we recapped on all of the camera settings and what she had learnt. We went out for a walk to find somewhere to take a photo, her granddaughter was not available so this time my mam was roped in to being the model and my dad tagged along to take a photo of me teaching. Then we went back to the house and chatted about what she has learnt off me and she chose her favourite photo, it ended up being one from in her garden of the dog and my dad.

This photograph is Ann's favourite of all the ones she took.

I enjoyed helping Ann and teaching her but it is much easier to learn it myself for my own photos. Ann is going to do a review of my lessons and I am picking it up on the weekend.

Also my mam has saved copies of two comments left about my work by the pro photographer I interviewed so I have uploaded then under this paragraph.

UNIT 1, PART C. Cardiff Before Cardiff Exhibition Review.

Today I went to the 'Cardiff before Cardiff' photography exhibition in The Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay. The photographs are by two photographers, one is Keith S Robertson and the other is Jon Poutney. The older photos by Keith were undiscovered for years but then Jon found them and did lots of research about them and then he reimaged lots of them to a modern version of the old photo. All the pictures are off Cardiff from 1970’sish till now. I liked the exhibition and liked how the people were all in their natural surroundings and not posed, I didn’t like them all being Black and White, some I think I would have left in colour. In some ways the photography is a bit like mine because I like people to be natural and not posed but I don’t think I’d be able to walk around city streets taking photos of strangers. The display was very simple and neat and the black frames and white mounts showed off the photographs really nicely. The style of street photography and the all black and white was not really something I liked I found it quite boring but I did really like the relaxed poses and this is something I do in my photography and will continue to do but I dont think I will be doing any street photography and lots of black and white photographs.

cardiffbeforecardiff.tumblr.com

Here is the link:  http://www.whatsonwales.co.uk/galleries/i/23654/

And another:  http://www.wmc.org.uk/Productions/2012-2013/18969/79765/

Report on my Achievements and The Future.

REPORT ON MY ACHIEVEMENTS.


I have mostly done everything I had planned to do, I was not able to do the band photographs in the end as it was really hard to find a time they were all together at rehearsals because they all work aswell. I did not do the tattoo pictures of my dad as he has been doing so many hours in work but this is still something I want to do one day in the future. Im really happy with everything I have done for the art award and everything I have learnt, I think my portrait photography has really improved and I know what I need to do to get a good photograph with good lighting and good set up now. 






THE FUTURE FOR ME AND MY PHOTOGRAPHY.


If I wanted to in the future I think id be good enough to go into portrait work, I could join the local photography club in Pontypridd and could go to University to do a BA Honours degree for three years like Julie James did. It is an intense course and lasts three years but it is worth doing if you want to work for someone else. You can then work towards your Masters degree which is even longer. You dont have to have a degree to be a photographer but it is more professional if you do as it shows you know what you are doing but some people just set up in business and then if their work is good enough they get known by word of mouth. There are other ways to work on photography such as for a newspaper or as a sports photographer or wedding photographer. I would not work for a paper because they would be telling me what photographs to take and I like my own way of taking photographs. Sports photography can be very hard, my mam and dad have done Motorsport photography before and it is hard work and it is not really something that interests me as I only like Drift racing and Golf anyway. Wedding photography is something id like to try but I am too young at the moment to do it but it looks like something I would enjoy but the days are long, sometimes 10am till 10pm and then all the work you have to do after with the photos. Im not sure if I will go into photography as a career when I am older though as my dream is to become a Pro Golfer but this is something I can keep in mind.

UNIT 2, PARTS A AND B.

I have researched what is needed to become a professional Photographer, there is no rule really…. But if you’re trying to work for someone else ( as a photographer) then getting a BA HONS Degree is the best way to start, it’s a 3 year course and is very intense and you have to research about past artist’s not just photographers mind. Once you get your BA HONS Degree you can work towards your Master, but that’s another 3 years.

In the next few weeks I am going to be teaching a family friend about photography and stuff I have learnt to help her learn. The first week I will tell her about the different settings and what they do to the light and also a bit about my favourite photographer and his work and his ideas and get her to try them out in her house using a doll or something. The next week I will have someone who will be willing to pose for photographs and will get her to try different ideas and settings in her garden. The third week we will go to a park or somewhere and take someone with us and I will see how she does with all the settings taking a portrait.

I think it will help for me to keep things simple and explain things simply and also have her to do things on her camera as I explain them. I think to teach her well I will need to go over the settings a few times and also keep patient when I do the lessons.

I plan to teach Ann how to take a photo of someone without having to use flash and without it being too dark. Ann has told me this is something she has a problem with because she does not know anything about settings on a camera so just puts the flash up and hopes for the best. Ann’s main interest was in taking a good portrait and not having to use flash for it. She told me this when we chatted about me helping her with her photography. Ann had her own camera to use and plenty of things in the house to practice on and also a nice garden to practice in. We planned to use her granddaughter for the photographs outside but in the end she couldn’t come so we had to change plans. All the way through the lessons I would ask Ann to explain stuff back to me to check she understood and remembered and then id decide if she understood and I could teach something more or if I needed to go back over the stuff I’d already told her. I think the biggest skills I need are patience and calmness and to be able to explain things simply.

Health and Safety.

I had to think of health and safety. I had to check the garden and make sure it was enclosed and safe. I had to make sure I had another adult with me incase Ann got ill or fell or something. I had to think about what would happen if it rained and would the decking in her garden get slippy. There are not really many health and safety risks with photography in the home. For the last photo lesson we were going to go for a walk so I had to think about where we were going to go and if there were roads to cross and crossings to use and if we went to somewhere old and tatty would there be bits of rusty stuff on the floor or rickety walls. In the end her granddaughter could not do the photos so I had to get my dad to be a model on one of the days and he brought our dog so I had to check the garden and check she could not escape and even though she is a sloppy dog still had to make sure there was a medicine kit in the house incase the dog got spooked or something.

LESSON PLANS:-

Week 1.

Teach Ann the basics of the camera, show her all the buttons and show her how to change the F-Stop, how to change an ISO and why it is important to change the ISO based on the lighting were she is and get her to try out all the settings by taking photos of a doll or something.

Week 2.

Take what Ann has learnt into the garden and take photographs of one of her grandchildren using all the different settings and then study the photos to see what she done good and what she needs to work on before taking the photos on week three.

Week 3.

We will recap on the settings she has learnt and recap on what she needed to work on from week two photos. We will go outside to take more photographs of her grandchild but outside outside in the outside world and use the things she recapped on.

After the lessons I will ask her to give me a review of my lessons and how I was as a teacher.

UNIT 1 PART B.

April 8^th 2012 I did a fashion shoot at Coity Castle, I enjoyed it but it was harder than just normal photographs because you have to think of how to make them look good and what poses work.  I only got to do one of my planned poses though. The little boy did not really want many photographs, he just wanted to play so I just got the photo of him with is mum. Some of the photographs I had planned were not able to be done as they included the little boy and he did not want to do them, one was the mam and child lieing on the floor but the little boy did not want to so I didn't do that pose and instead went into the castle and took some in the tunnels and walk ways instead. Also I needed to really know my settings because some parts of the castle were very light and bright but other parts were very dark. I enjoyed it and it is something I would like to do again, it was harder than I thought it was going to be but im happy with the results from the day and happy with the photographs ive got. When the model has a chance she is going to upload my photographs onto her modelling sites and give me credit for them. These are my favourite images from the day and one my mam took of me explaining a pose.

I am looking up on Google for places to go to see a photography exhibition and making plans for part two of my award. I also have more photographs to take too.

The last few weeks.

Over the last few weeks I have not been able to get my camera out for photographs much, I was ill for nearly a week but did a lot of reading and watched videos about famous photographers and made plans for a photo shoot of my dad and his tattoos but I have not been able to take the photographs yet because he has to do lots of overtime. And now I have broken my foot.

I have made plans to take photographs of my dad using the black background and use the modelling lights and my dad will just have jeans on so that all his tattoos are on show for the photograph. I still want to take this photograph but it has to be when I can stand and when my dad is off work.

If my foot is allowed to be put on the floor on April 8^th I will be taking photographs of my auntie who is a model and her little boy my cousin.  The photographs will be at Coity Castle. I want to take one of my auntie sat down with her head on her knee, I want to take one of my cousin by himself, I don’t have a pose I will just let him mess about and take photographs. I also want one of them together lying in the grass.

This month I am going to go to a recording studio in Cardiff and take photographs indoors and outdoors of the band Caesars Rome. I don’t know the area but the ideas I have are one where it is a dark and gritty theme and they are looking all tough and not to mess with, one of them walking towards me as a foursome and also one just hanging out by a gritty wall. I will think of other ideas on the day.

I am still planning to use my blog to record my work and am thinking of printing of the photographs and putting them in a display book to show people and also probably a one page web gallery.

UNIT 1 PART B.

This week I interviewed a portrait photographer from Pontypridd. I wanted to find out about her work and who inspires her.

Name: Julie James

When did she start photography: Started photography 4 years ago.

What cameras does she use: She uses a Sony Alfa 200.

Who inspires her in photography: David Bailey.

What type of photography does she do: Started out doing landscapes then went on to do fashion shoots and now does portraits.

What is her goal for photography: To run her own business.

Does she have a webpage to share: 

www.facebook.com/JuJuPhotography http://www.wix.com/jujuphotography/tattoos-web-site www.flickr.com/photos/juju_09

What is her best photography tip: Don’t rush and plan ahead.


Julie started out with photography as a hobby and had a 5mp Samsung camera and did landscapes, she did a one day a week course for ten weeks and was told her work was fantastic and offered the BA Honours degree which she did for three years. She now has a BA Honours degree in Photography. She decided to go Pro when she was doing the degree and she now has a business JuJu Photography, she is freelance at the moment but would eventually like to open her own studio.

After the interview she showed me lots of her work and also model release forms and projects she had done. I really like her work and want to try some tattoo photographs of my dad and try different ideas for lighting too. She also had some good ideas on how to display my work.


This is Julie James.

UNIT 1 PART B.

This week I went over the settings in my camera again, this time with my dad to make sure I know them ready for the photoshoot I had on the weekend.

I learnt that if you raise the ISO it becomes more grainy and sensitive, and if you raise the f-Stop, it keeps the background in focus, while if you lower it, it will focus on one thing, like a face or a flower.

Then I made the plan for the photoshoot on the weekend, here it is;

Who: Megan and Luke

Where: Up the mountain

When: On the weekend

Need: Camera (of Course)

On Saturday February 25^th I went up the mountain to do the photoshoot. The two children live by me and the parents came up too. I wanted to take the pictures in the same style as Rob Heyman so I let the children play and mess about in mud and took photographs when they were playing. I tried to do a silhouette but it didn’t come out right.

I have chosen my favourites to show you.

and this is one of me that my mother took.

UNIT 1 PART B.

This week I learnt about a photographer that takes photographs in a way I really like. His name is Rob Heyman and he is from Australia. I follow his blog and also have a film all about him and his work and lots of tips and ideas. He was actually trained as a Graphic Designer but turned to photography as it was not as hard to do and easier to earn money from, it wasn't exactly even a hobby just something he did occasionally. He did not have any exams or qualifications in photography though now he has Triple Master Rating with the Australian Institute of Professional Photography. He is a dreamer and creative and a workaholic and refuses to follow the trends and his clients always return and he is one of the leading photographers in Australia. He does not use lights and flashes and takes his photographs outside and late afternoon when the sun is not too bright. He does not pose the person in the photograph and he asks them lots of questions to make sure the photograph suits them.

His best ever tip is “Make them smile don’t tell them to”.

I also like tips like “let them do what they need to do then take the photograph” , K.I.S.S. this means Keep it simple stupid and I also like that he does not mind blurred photographs if it means he has “captured the moment”.

My favourite photograph is one where he has a little boy leaning over a fence in the middle of a town.

He has got two blogs http://heymanphoto.blogspot.com/ and http://heymanports2.blogspot.com/



I have decided I like him best so will not be learning about Annabelle Williams.

I planned a photograph shoot then using the tips and ideas from the film. I went for a walk with my mam and dad and took a photograph of my dad sitting on a stone and told him to do what he wanted. The first photograph was too bright so I had to change the F stop and shutter speed and then it was perfect.

This is my favourite photograph of the day too.



Then I took one of my mam and because she was dressed in a thick winter coat I took it with lots of winter trees behind her to show them with no leaves to show the setting suited her clothes. The first one was no use because the dog walked into the photograph but the next one was good. Then in Adobe Photoshop I added a Blue tint too make the photograph look even colder.

And this is me carrying my camera and tripod.

UNIT 1 PART B.

Today for my art award I did portraits of my dad outside. I had the light from the sky which is called natural light and adjusted the settings in my camera.

I made a plan first:-

WHERE: - Out the back garden on the steps.

WHO: - Dad.

POSES: - Sat down, moody, bored. Sitting down, facing camera. Any other poses I think of.

EQUIPMENT: - Camera, bin bag to sit on, umbrella my plan, towel, Photoshop and my laptop.

EXTRA’S:- Photoshop it to tweak the coloured one and to change one to Black and White and one to half colour and half Black.




One of the methods I used in Photoshop was new, ive used Photoshop a lot before now but have not done the half colour and half black and white method before, I asked my mam to explain how it was done as she is a photographer and then I did it myself. It was pretty easy to do because I already knew how to do a lot in Photoshop.

My first attempt was too bright and bits were burnt out so I had to change the exposure setting and change the iso and then the photographs came up right.

After taking the photographs I used Photoshop to change one to Black and White and made a colour one too. For the other photograph I used the polygonal lasso tool to go around my dad and the dog and the feathered it and then I inverted it then I copy and pasted that layer and then used a filter to change it to Black and White on the background.

My favourite is the photograph of my dad and my dog.

I am very pleased with my first try of portraits.

I have decided to put a copyright on all my pictures from now on so that no one can pretend they are theirs.

UNIT 1 PART B.

Today I learnt all about the settings in my camera. I learnt about taking photographs using the aperture setting and the manual setting and changing iso and shutter speeds and about f stops and also white balance.

My mother took these photographs of me doing my work.



I took a photo on auto to start.

Then I took photos using every iso setting in my camera to see the difference between all the different photos. Iso is to control the speed the camera can take a photo, the bigger the iso is the less blur is in the photo if it is dark lighting but there is also a lot of grainy noise when you use big iso numbers.

Then I learnt about the F stop and changing exposure times and shutter speeds. This is to let in more light and to change how blurred the background is too. Then I took lots of photographs on F 3.1 and iso 100 and tried lots of different exposure times to see all the differences. Some were over bright and some were just right and others darker.

White balance is what you change depending on what the light is like around you, if it is fluorescent you change it to a fluorescent setting.

My photograph I was most happy with was taken on F3.1, ISO 100 and exposure time of 1/5 second and the light was from my big living room window.

UNIT 1 PART A and UNIT 1 PART B.

I have already blogged about what I have decided to do for my Silver Arts Award, I am doing Portrait Photography, and my end goal is a one-page web-based gallery of my work.

Resources:

As well as my Fuji Camera that I have already said about I will also be able to use:-

Canon 350D, Tamron 28-75mm lens, Canon 50mm Prime lens, Sigma 70-300mm lens, Canon 550ex Speedlight flash.

Elinchrome lighting set including two lights, one soft box, and one brolly plus white and black backgrounds.

Books and DVD's including 99 Portrait Photo Idea's by Annabel Williams, TheDigital Photographers Handbook-Portraits, and DVD's of Lovegrove, Heyman and Oliver

Also any of my mum’s photographer friends.

Sharing My Work:

I will be using my blog and also the Photographers Cafe Facebook Group.

People Who Will Help Me:

My mum and dad, who are both photographers, and my granddad, who is also a photographer.

Checklist:

Wk.3: Learn about the settings on my camera and about focus etc.

Wk.4: Try a first attempt at an outdoor portrait, practise changing camera settings and learn about using the outdoor natural light.

Wk.5: Research Annabel Williams and Rob Heyman and their styles of photography and try it out myself.

Wk.6: Make a plan for an outdoor portrait of a child putting to use everything Ihave learnt so far, and use to take a portrait of a child.

Wk.7: Meet up with another photographer, interview them and take their portrait.

Wk.8: Plan an indoor portrait, decide whether to use lighting or use natural lighting etc.

Wk.9: Take the indoor portrait as planned.

Wk.10: Research for upcoming photography events etc.

Wk.11: Plan a photo session of a group, where it will be, style of portrait etc. Plan the same for a model.

Wk.12: Take photos of a group following the plan I made. If a model is available, do the same following the model plan.

Wk.13: Build my webpage gallery to display my work. 

This is my plan so far, parts C and D of my award will be added to my blog another time.

UNIT 1 PART A.

As my challenge for my Silver Arts Award I have chosen to do photography, potrait photography of all kinds. I have chosen to do this because i already do photography and im good at it. My strengths are in Macro and Landscape as shown here.

Something I want to work on more is Potraits of people and to learn about lighting, posing and setting up the photo and also setting up my camera and I'd like to learn about a famous potrait photographer named Annabel Williams.

I have a camera, Its a Fuji FinePix S2750 to use for my work, and also will be able to use my mothers Canon 350d and all the lenses.

I will be using a blog to record my activity each week, and at the end of my Award will hopefully create a one-page website Gallery of my work.